This proposal requests funds for an Olympus FV1000 confocal imaging system. This system will be housed in the basement of the Zoology Research Building (ZRB) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This instrument will be a key asset to investigators who study cellular and developmental events in living organisms. In particular, it will be essential to permit detailed analysis of the dynamics of specific molecules during wound healing, cell division, morphogenesis, and development of the nervous system. In addition to using this instrument for conventional confocal applications, such as 3D reconstructions of fixed samples and single optical plane time-lapse imaging, the investigators will use it for several more specialized techniques, including 4D imaging, photoactivation, photoablation, fluorescence loss after photoactivation, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Combined with studies in a variety of model systems, these approaches will provide crucial new information concerning the contributions made by individual molecules and cells to a number of fundamental biological processes. This information, in turn, will help guide future investigations of a number of normal and pathological human processes such as wound repair, nerve regeneration, cancer, and birth defects. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]